The thing is. While, at the moment, it seems like an option to all customers.

Soon it will turn into a situation where they have the monthly figures of how many people opted in or out and that figure will be used as a representation of the customer base.

So, then. Opting out of porn becomes the norm, because no one payed enough attention and only 1% of customers opted in. Stats rule this world.

Before you know it the only way to have unrestricted access. Remember this filter is not only going to block porn, but by association you have to call up customer service and have a conversation about removing your porn restrictions, because your wife is pregnant and needs to get gynaecological information which has now been filtered out of searches etc.

Porn is the stigma that is being applied to prevent people from arguing about how wrong this is.

If you don't pay attention while setting up your internet connection then more fool you. I can't speak for BT, but I can speak for TalkTalk, which had a whole screen dedicated to their thing called "HomeSafe", which is their version of the filter. Two very easy options that you can disable; one for porn, one for viruses. Clicked disable on both, clicked next, easy as that. No shame, no guilt tripping, no social stigma for any of it.

reminds me of using AOL dial up back in the mid nineties. My parents had a child lock on the internet connection, and I basically couldn't access anything outside of an AOL authorized website. After my mom saw that I couldn't even read news articles or educational sites she turned it off.

Before you know it the only way to have unrestricted access. Remember this filter is not only going to block porn, but by association you have to call up customer service and have a conversation about removing your porn restrictions,

It'll be a tick box on a web page somewhere - and even if you do ring, they won't grill you, it'll be "turn the filter off" "certainly sir, that's done. Can I do anything else for you?". No justification or reasoning needed. The ISP couldn't give two shits what you do with the connection as long as it isn't blatantly illegal and you're not getting attention for torrenting. This idea that the ISP will care is about as silly as the so called "pervert list" that people seem to think will come into being.

There is no evidence that a government is going to force every ISP to do this (it'd be really expensive for one thing). So the largest ISPs will do it voluntarily, the government will decide that's good enough, and that's the end of the matter. Meanwhile the rest of us can sign up to a totally unfiltered ISP.

UK mobile networks have had opt out filters for years. The last time I took out a contract, the filter was automatically turned off for me, because you have to be 18 to have a contract (oh no, I'm on the "pervert list" now). They even mentioned this on the first bill I got from them. I suspect it'll turn into a simple yes/no question when signing up, if they are forced to do something.

The hysteria and grandstanding on Reddit about the filter is both maddening and hilarious.

by association you have to call up customer service and have a conversation about removing your porn restrictions, because your wife is pregnant and needs to get gynaecological information which has now been filtered out of searches etc.

Soon it will turn into a situation where they have the monthly figures of how many people opted in or out and that figure will be used as a representation of the customer base.

And you've read this will happen where exactly?

you have to call up customer service and have a conversation about removing your porn restrictions, because your wife is pregnant and needs to get gynaecological information which has now been filtered out of searches etc.

Utterly false, they've said it's entirely upto the ISP how to implement that. It could be a toggle switch on their account setting page for all you know.

This is part of a campaign by David Cameron to make it a legal requirement for all ISPs to have default-on internet filtering, so while the OP is talking about a different list, this will (if Cameron gets his way) be a national block list.

Yes, you'll be able to turn it off, giving the government easy access to a list of people it can discredit or subject to further scrutiny. Remember how we all complained that this would enable the government to drag the name of anyone they didn't like through the mud? And then we found out they were doing exactly that with Muslim extremists? It's not a good situation.

Forcing people to opt in to pornography is an invasion of privacy, and setting up the infrastructure to make a great firewall is extremely concerning. Who knows what an unscrupulous official might do with it without public authorization? (See: NSA)